By Wole Ayodele in Jalingo
The Taraba State Police Command has confirmed the death of four persons in an attack on Takum community by gunmen on Sunday.
The gunmen were said to have invaded Takum and shot sporadically before they were repelled by security agencies and youths of the town.
Confirming the casualty figure in the attack, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), David Misal, said three of the gunmen were killed during the attack as well as a resident of the town.
Misal said the attackers, whom he described as bandits, came in through the outskirts of Takum and started shooting sporadically before they were repelled by officers of the Nigeria Police Force.
The corpses of the three gunmen killed during the attack were recovered from the bush when police operatives combed the bush after the attack and were later deposited at the Takum General Hospital mortuary.
The police spokesperson however noted that the situation in the town has been brought under control even as security agencies have been mobilised to the town to protect lives and property.
Meanwhile, the attack on Takum has further deepened the lingering crisis between the Tivs and Jukuns in the state as THISDAY gathered that several Tiv’s in villages between Bali Local Government and Takum are relocating to other places for fear of reprisals.
Even in Jalingo, the state capital, THISDAY was reliably informed that some Tivs living in Jalingo were asked by their Jukuns landlords to go and take refuge in safer places to avoid being attacked.
The protracted crisis between the two tribes, which started on April 1, 2019 as a minor disagreement between two people at Kente village in Wukari Local Government Area has assumed dangerous dimension as it has escalated to Donga and Takum Local Government Areas.
